Suspicious bicyclist near Ground Zero causes hundreds of people to miss chance to see Obama

John Munson/The Star-LedgerPresident Barack Obama's motorcade turns onto Broadway from Barclay St after his visit to Ground Zero following the death of Osama bin Laden.

NEW YORK — After waiting hours behind a barricade near Ground Zero on Thursday, hundreds of people missed their chance to see President Obama when police raced through the crowd to tackle a man pushing a bicycle just as the presidential motorcade passed.

"Get down! Get down!" officers shouted, running through the crowd with guns drawn.

Dozens of other officers descended on the corner of Church and Vesey streets, surrounding the man, who was tackled in front of the Church Street Station Post Office.

The man, wearing a blue baseball cap, appeared to be in his 20s. He was carrying a backpack and pushing a yellow bicycle. Some in the crowd shouted he had a gun. Others said he had been walking his bike through the crowd saying "Secret Service coming through."

Police took him into the post office, where he was questioned and eventually released, law enforcement officials said. He was not armed.

The shouting and confusion caused many in the crowd, including some who had staked out spots on the sidewalk for hours, to look away from the street at the moment Obama drove by.

If she had a chance to speak with Obama, Rodriguez said, she would tell him she was grateful for the death of the al Qaeda leader.

"Thank you for what you did — to follow this guy and kill him," Rodriguez said.

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The last time President Obama visited Ground Zero he was a U.S. senator running for president and the site was still a dusty construction site known as "the pit."

Since then, the site has changed dramatically, the Port Authority noted in a statement released Thursday.

"One World Trade Center is now a fixture in the New York skyline, the two signature reflecting pools for the 9/11 Memorial are complete, the iconic steel arches for the World Trade Center Transportation Hub mezzanine have been installed underground and 3,000 skilled workers pour over the site every day," the agency said.

The new World Trade Center building, still under construction, towered 64 stories over Thursday’s ceremonies. A huge American flag hung from near the 40th floor.

Port Authority Executive Director Christopher Ward was proud of an exchange he had with the Obama during his 15-minute visit to the site.

"When I told him we were the builders, he turned to me and said, ‘Congratulations. You’re doing a great job,’" Ward said.

Some of the thousands of people lining the streets around Ground Zero were solemn as they paid tribute to those who died at the site. Others were in the mood to celebrate.

"Obama got Osama! Obama got Osama!" one woman shouted, trying to lead the crowd in a chant.

Vendors sold $2 American flags, Obama buttons and "Osama is dead" T-shirts. The crowd shouted "USA! USA!" as the president drove through the neighborhood.

Yeshiva University student Todd Weinstein, 20, said it was unusual to be celebrating another person’s death. The Baltimore native held a handwritten sign with a quote from a book about a Holocaust survivor that he thought summed up the mood.

"I had never dreamed that the death of human beings, even of enemies — even of such enemies — could so delight me," the quote read.